Portfolio Manager- Credit Card

Job Details

To manage and grow the Credit Card portfolio by driving acquisition, activation, spend, profitability, customer engagement, and portfolio quality while ensuring compliance with all in-country regulatory regulations, Absa policies, and card scheme requirements (Visa/Mastercard). The role is accountable for the end-to-end performance of the credit card business, including product management, portfolio analytics, risk oversight, and commercial execution. Location: Kampala, Uganda. Employment Type: Full Time. Category: Banking.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and implement portfolio growth strategies to expand credit card acquisition, increase card usage, and enhance portfolio profitability.
• Drive achievement of credit card revenue targets through optimization of interchange income, interest earnings, annual fees, and other card-related revenue streams.
• Develop and implement strategic initiatives to drive sustainable growth of the credit card portfolio, aligned with the bank's retail banking objectives.
• Lead customer acquisition, card activation, and usage campaigns to expand the active cardholder base and drive growth in card spend, revolving balances, and customer engagement.
• Monitor portfolio profitability, return on assets, and overall portfolio performance to ensure sustainable growth and value creation.
• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with cross-functional units and Direct Sales teams to accelerate credit card sales, activation, and utilization.
• Oversee the end-to-end lifecycle management of credit card products in collaboration with the Card Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) team, coordinate product launches, enhancements, pricing reviews, and portfolio refresh initiatives.
• Conduct regular competitor benchmarking and market analysis to ensure bank's card offerings remain industry-leading and identify market opportunities for innovative propositions.
• Support development and growth of premium, rewards, affinity, co-branded, and partnership card programs.
• Champion customer-centric portfolio strategies across acquisition, onboarding, activation, usage, and retention stages and leverage customer insights, feedback, and transaction data to enhance engagement.
• Monitor and improve customer experience metrics including Net Promoter Score (NPS), complaint resolution turnaround times, card activation rates, and customer retention levels.
• Collaborate with customer service, digital banking, and operations teams to resolve customer pain points and deliver seamless cardholder experiences across all channels.
• Ensure full compliance of the card portfolio with all in-country regulatory requirements, Visa and Mastercard scheme rules, AML/KYC requirements, consumer protection standards, and internal policies and controls.
• Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate operational, regulatory, and fraud-related risks affecting the card portfolio.
• Coordinate internal and external audits related to card products and services, ensuring timely resolution and closure of audit findings and compliance gaps.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders including Retail Banking, Business Banking, Corporate Banking, Digital Banking, Operations, Risk, Compliance, and Finance teams.
• Engage with external partners such as Visa, Mastercard, merchants, fintechs, and service providers to enhance card offerings and customer value.
• Provide regular portfolio insights and strategic recommendations to senior management.

Qualifications, Skills and Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Economics, Statistics, Marketing or any other related field; National Diplomas and Advanced Certificates in Business, Commerce and Management Studies required.
• 5 years' experience in the Financial Services sector including proven experience in front-line banking sales/marketing/service environment.
• Strong analytical and data interpretation skills.
• Understands and can execute delivery of Personal Banking (70%) and Business Banking (30%).
• Understanding of market management and market segmentation, knowledge of distribution channels and branch transaction processes.
• Understanding of business and financial management principles and practices.
• Excellent interpersonal and good communication skills.
• Decision making, people management, conflict resolution, change management, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.